The Debate Debate

Part of me is eager to watch Joe Biden debate Paul Ryan this evening, hoping that the wit and humor of Joe will illuminate Ryan’s hateful Randian leanings, his dishonesty, and his lack of ability to be a Presidential stand-in.

The other part of me is horrified about my anticipation.

My excitement means that I’m buying into the spectator sport mentality of this season’s debates. I need to remind myself that the Presidential debates are an intelligent interplay of ideas, not a mud wrestling event.

When I think back to the momentous evening of October 3rd and how Romney’s ninety minute Gish Gallop left a bewildered Obama in a cloud of dust, I get a sharp painful feeling in my stomach. More painful, however, is that Romney’s fib marathon provided him with a bump in the polls. Like Andrew Sullivan and other bewildered commentators on October 4th, I was angry with the President for not displaying more chutzpah.

This temporary bump in the polls speaks volumes about the average American.

If the American electorate switches votes merely because of a single televised event, then they deserve the bitter fruits of their mercurial preferences. Reality TV and political theatre have invaded and conquered our political landscape. If a candidate is a successful beauty candidate on television, angry, disrespectful with a "kick-derriere and in-your-face" attitude (and then lies, but does so in a convincing manner), then the American public considers that person leadership material.

If the leadership of America is decided by a single staged confrontation, then we, as Americans, have ultimately lost the concept of leadership. Genuine leadership is not winning an argument in a public arena; it’s a constant day-to-day struggle of juggling the momentous and the mundane against a brick wall of stupidity and obstructionism with irresponsible parrots who repeatedly squawk “patriot” and “ad hominem”, completely lost when it comes to comprehending the finer underlying points and consequences of an issue.

This campaign season has illuminated the contagion of ignorance in this country. We have become such an illiterate, common and trashy America. We are attracted to the false, the shiny, the disposable, and the ephemeral. We are a nation with a drive-thru window mentality. Most of us wouldn't know leadership if it knocked us in the head. Ignorance is the new "Manifest Destiny" of the Millennium.

With the election less than thirty days away, we all should worry about this: 70% of Americans still believe that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11, 40% of Americans still believe that our President is a Muslim. And these people will be voting. Our country is rapidly descending into a black hole of wholesale ignorance.

For many on the Right, this is exactly where they want us to be. It's easier to control an uneducated electorate and Americans are more than eager to oblige. As long as there is beer in the fridge and Dancing with the Stars on TV (or some other crap-viewing that features one of the Palin-progeny) then "all is well". Huxley could have never known that his “soma” would be a mind-numbing reality show.

Resistance is futile. We might as well surrender to the reality show phenomenon and incorporate it into the Presidential elections. Each week, the slate of contenders would compete and be voted off the show and into political oblivion by text message or phone call. It would be quick, easy and devoid of any rational thinking, which, for some, only results in a headache.

One advantage? At least, we would know the true identity of the corporate sponsors.

Carol Morgan is a career counselor, writer, speaker, former Democratic candidate for the Texas House and the award-winning author of Of Tapestry, Time and Tears, a historical fiction about the 1947 Partition of India. Follow her on Twitter @CounselorCarol1, on Facebook: CarolMorgan1 and her writer’s blog at www.carolmorgan.org

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Carol is right to point out that the "Debate" is really not the issue in this election for president. Actions speak louder than words. Look at which candidate has acted to increase the size of our federal government and consequently reduce the size of individual freedom. Larger federal government means larger income taxes now (or increased debt to be paid in the future by our children or bankruptcy.) Increased federal control of our post office, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, etc. has pushed our country towards the brink of bankruptcy. Who is pushing us in the direction of socialist Europe so we can become tomorrows Greece? Look at their actions, not their words.